Record inflation and rate hikes decided by central banks did not prevent the Paris Stock Exchange from enjoying a spectacular rebound last month.
It soared in July by 8.87%, the strongest monthly increase it has known since November 2020. The CAC 40 closed Friday at its highest level since the beginning of June, very close to 6,450 points.
It is thanks to the good results of French companies, often better than expected, that the Paris market was able to make up for some of the ground lost in the first half.
The impressive profits unveiled by the giants of luxury, industry or energy have cheered investors.
Especially since those of American companies, on Wall Street, were in tune.
Even tech, thanks to publications from Apple or Amazon across the Atlantic, has reassured.
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Galvanized by this good news, the markets seem to have chosen to show a little more optimism on the economic situation as well.
European stock markets were more sensitive, in the last sessions of July, to the good performance of growth in the euro zone (+0.7% in the second quarter) than to record inflation.
On both sides of the Atlantic, hopes are growing that the American central bank will succeed in calming inflation without precipitating Uncle Sam into recession.
This hope was bolstered at the end of July by the slight upturn in US consumer confidence, which had reached its all-time low in June.
The world stock markets are nevertheless still far from having erased the losses recorded since the beginning of the year.
In the first half, the CAC 40 had fallen by 17%, and despite the rebound of last month it still shows a decline of 9.85% since January 1.
On Wall Street, despite rebounding 6.73% in July (its best month of 2022), the Dow Jones is still down 9.61% on the year.
A less spectacular fall, however, than that of the Nasdaq, more than 20% despite the 12% increase recorded last month.
